


[restricted number]

by plinys



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Epistolary, F/F, Femslash February, Femslash February Trope Bingo, Text Messages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2015-02-27
Packaged: 2018-03-15 13:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3448511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinys/pseuds/plinys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Pepper and Natasha start texting each other following the aftermath of the Stark Expo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[restricted number]

**Author's Note:**

> for the 'epistolary' square on my bingo card

The first messages come a few months following the whole Stark Expo fiasco.

She’s busy putting everything back together, dealing with press conferences, and trying to keep _her_ company afloat – when he phone goes off.

That in itself is not out of the ordinary; Tony texts her nearly every hour with things ranging from important to highly mundane, she gets plenty of messages regarding Stark Industries, and she does have other friends as well who might message her from time to time, the thing that is strange is that the text message comes from **_[restricted number]._**

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

guess who?

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Tony?

**_[restricted number]:_ **

not a chance

\---

It takes her four more guesses, and one long moment where she stares at her cell phone in wonder before she guesses it.

She saves the number in her phone as ‘ _Natalie’_ even though she knows it was a fake name.

It was silly, she supposed, but at the same time it felt right -  like a tribute to the times they had worked together before.

And adding the number to her contacts hadn’t mattered anyways, for the next time she got a message it was on another restricted line anyways.

\---

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Why do you keep changing phones?”

**_[restricted number]:_ **

spy stuff.

**_[restricted number]:_ **

its complicated.

\---

Messages come in more frequently following that, as the months move on there will be other things sent her way.

Sometimes it’s casual conversation that lasts can last from few minutes to an hour, depending on the situation.

Other times it’s pictures, a sunrise in Barcelona that _“reminded me of you”_ or  a video of one of her coworkers doing stupid things (to which Pepper’s only response had been _“is that a bow and arrow!?”_ )

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

have you ever been to greenland?

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Is it nice?

**_[restricted number]:_ **

if you’re a fan of frostbite :(

\---

This thing they have between them is all just fun, until New York happens.

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

alive

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

That’s it, that’s all you’re going to say? That you’re alive? Half a city has been destroyed, two of the people I care about most in this world were down there in the middle of it and that’s all you have to say for yourself.

**_[restricted number]:_ **

tonys alive too.

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

That’s not what I meant.

**_[restricted number]:_ **

I know.

\---

She gets so busy with work.

So busy trying to fund projects to rebuild a city that had been destroyed by aliens.

That Pepper can almost pretend she doesn’t notice when the text messages stop coming in as frequently.

When what used to be a daily thing, becomes weekly, and then monthly and then stops altogether.

But pretending doesn’t work out nearly as well as it should.

And there are nights where she’ll grab her phone off the bedside table and flip through her messages, trying to figure out what went wrong.

\---

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

I miss talking to you.

\---

She doesn’t get a reply then, not for months after that, and when she does it’s after Christmas.

She nearly throws the phone at the wall of the crappy hotel room she’s staying in.

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

i’m here if you need anything. shield’s not allowed to be directly involved, but if you want me there, i can be.

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Don’t bother.

\---

She regrets that reply later, when the door to the hotel room is broken down and everything happens in the aftermath. Keeps wondering if saying something else would have changed things – would have made all of this easier.

The next time they see each other, face to face, there’s this look that’s sent her way. This almost sad one that doesn’t quite sit right on the other woman’s face, before she looks away, and begins explaining SHIELD processes and procedures

But Pepper’s too distracted, her body burning with an unwanted flame, to even dwell on the meaning of that.

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

how does it feel to be a superhero?

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

I’m not a superhero.

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Also, like hell.

**_[restricted number]:_ **

literally or figuratively?

\---

Things pick up again after that.

Its starts simple, messages about the pertain to work or her condition, move back into the familiar.

And Pepper hadn’t realized just how much she missed this - until Natasha discovered the wonders of emojis, and she had to excuse herself during a business meeting because she couldn’t stop laughing.

It hits her then that this is something more, it’s not just friend texting back and forth, it’s complicated in a way that she doesn’t entire know how to explain.

She means to say something, to talk it out between them, they even make a date of it – a plan to meet up in a few months, face to face, to catch up on old times.

Of course, she should have known better than to expect everything to go off perfectly.

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

tell me you’re not in dc.

**_[restricted number]:_ **

don’t tell me where you are, just tell me that youre not in dc

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

I’m not.

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Why?

\---

She doesn’t get an answer.

But two hours later Captain America is fugitive.

Four more and there’s pictures of his accomplice – a familiar red headed woman.

\---

**_[pepper potts]:_ **

Don’t you dare die on me!

\---

Before she knows it the whole world is falling about.

Half the government is Hydra, SHIELD Is ruined, and she’s sitting down watching it all on a television screen.

It’s like New York all over again.

There’s no text afterwards this time, and what she wouldn’t give for a simple message letting her know that Natasha is alive.

\---

**_[restricted number]:_ **

come outside.

\----

“You’re alive.”

“I figured you’d want to see me, since last time I texted you that-“

She doesn’t let her finish the sentence, because kissing her quite had seemed like a much better idea. And when Natasha, follows her into the kiss a second later, she knows it was definitely the right decision.

“You’re alive.”

“Yeah, I am.”

 


End file.
